In The Northeast, It’s #Sneckdown Season
Last week’s storm has created major hassles for pedestrians trying to navigate buried sidewalks, but there’s one silver lining: it’s left thousands of “sneckdowns,” places where snowbanks have narrowed down the roadway and forced cars to slow down considerably (a “snow neckdown”).
Streetsfilms editor Clarence Eckerson first documented “naturally occurring neckdowns” in 2006.
“The snow is almost like nature’s tracing paper,” Eckerson told the BBC in 2014. “It’s free. You don’t have to do a crazy expensive traffic calming study. It provides a visual cue into how people behave.”
In the Boston region, there’s been a flurry of Twitter posts with the #sneckdown hashtag published since last Thursday’s storm:
Fortunately, this intersection and several others in the area are slated to get new crosswalks and traffic-calming sidewalk extensions in an upcoming city project.
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